6.50% which includes a 1% bonus for 12 months.

This is all well and good but, unlike the other variable rates I've been looking at, there is no information about how the rate is pegged to the BoE base rate. Normally you are told that it will be 0.25% above for the next 12 months or something (plus the bonus).

I've been to a branch to ask about this and they didn't know( ), so I spoke with someone on the phone and they told me there was no guarantee to stay (say) 0.25% above the base rate. Apparently this has been the case for previous ISAs too.

It’s not a big deal because you can always move to a new ISA provider if they dramatically reduce the rate, but I thought I should spread the word.

Appreciate that. I was looking to go into Barclays for 08/08 Isa. Maybe not then

The bonus rate of 6.5% is guaranteed for 12 months, yes?

So you're just interested to know what will happen after the 12 month period is up?

IIRC, it actually guarantees a bonus of 1% for 12 months. So I guess your rate would drop by 1% (from whatever it was) at the end of the 12 months.

The 1% bonus is GUARANTEED , the 5.5% it's attached to is VARIABLE they can change it as and when they feel like it .

http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/js...lf&site=pfs

I'm not doing it anyway , i think Barclays are crap in everyway

Thanks for your views. Certainly if I were to stick some money into this ISA, I'd be asking Barclays exactly what it is they're guaranteeing for 12 months...

That's what I'm saying: You get a nice 1% bonus, but it's on a rate that they are perfectly within their rights to reduce to (say) 4%.

I know what your saying , so we agree , isn't it just fantastic .......Barclays products are crap imo anyway .

IF you took this out i reckon it's a near certainty that in 12 months time when the bonus is finished you would be dropped to a poor rate , you would then have to go through the hassle of transfering it to another provider because of the NEW poor rate , if that be the case then you would of put £3,600 in there for a year to earn about a tenner extra .
Is it worth it ........NO .

I don't think one needs to be all that perceptive to know it's highly likely this is what will happen. I wouldn't imagine Barclays (or any other bank that plays the same game, of which -- I imagine -- there are many) are even trying to pretend otherwise.

It's a bonus rate of interest. You know it. They know it. They know you know it... etc.



The goal should surely be to always try to have your cash (whether it be ISA or regular taxed accounts) earning as high an interest rate as possible, no? There may be an argument for avoiding 'risky' banks in order to pursue, say, an extra half a percent here or there, but I suspect most people wouldn't consider Barclays to be an especially risky bank.

Assuming that seeking out the extra half a percent here and there is a way of life (e.g. let's say one might intend to find the best interest rates for the next 20 years or more), then to dismiss it as being a waste of time (presumably on the basis that half a percent of £3k is only £15) is to ignore the effects of (potentially) a lifetime's worth of compounding on all these extra half percents, for example:

£3k @ 6.0% for 20 years is £9621.
£3k @ 6.5% for 20 years is £10571.

Personally, given that my intention is to keep an eye on financial products anyway (unless, of course, I become simply too wealthy to care! ), then it would seem wasteful NOT to be prepared to move money around to take advantage of the best offers out there -- now and in the future.

OJ , thanx for the lecture , it's not like i didn't know any of it , all basic stuff that i expect everyone else who frequents this board already knows as well , still if it makes you feel happy just carry on .........

My apologies if I've patronised you, but, with all due respect, if it's all so blindingly obvious to you, why say things about earning an extra tenner that make it sound like you don't have a clue?

Perhaps as 'Barclays products are crap' (apparently) you could recommend a better ISA and suggest why it isn't crap in the way that the Barclays one is?

I just signed up for this yesterday. *

I feel stupid






*Well when I say signed, I mean I phoned them up.

How about the Lloyds fixed ISA?

I agree. That looks like a good one -- once again subject to a 12-month bonus period, after which the interest rate becomes decidedly ordinary again.

One downside to Lloyds FRISA is that for the rate to be good, it requires a minimum of £9k. They do allow transfers in, though, so £9k may not be all that hard for some, but if someone can't transfer in, then there's no way to make the £9k.

I'm new to the whole ISA game. Can anyone tell me. Does transferring money from one ISA to another constitute paying your limit.

I.e. if I shift from one ISA to another am I still able to add another 3k the same tax year?

Moving ISA money around doesn't increase your allowance, which is just a certain amount per tax year. (For the '07/'08 tax year, that amount happens to be £3k. Next year, it's £3.6k.)

I believe that you can only use up the current year's allowance with a single institution, i.e. all of the £3k (or however much you use this year) must reside in a single ISA product. The allowance from previous years, though, can be split and transferred (or kept together and transferred) freely.

Once money is withdrawn from an ISA, that amount of your ISA allowance is lost for good. Transferring between ISAs doesn't cause your allowance to be lost, but it must be done 'properly', i.e. withdrawing cash from a previous year's ISA to pay into a new ISA won't work.